Green sink

ABSTRACT

It is an object of this invention to provide a method of maintaining a constant or variable water temperature in kitchen sinks, bathroom sinks, bathtubs, baby tubs, pet dishes (stop from freezing in the winter) and a wide variety of liquid containers such as cattle and horse water troughs, banquet food warmers (to replace sterno heat source) commercial sinks an portable liquid containers. For example, keeping the water warm or hot enough to do more dishes without draining the sink of cold water in order to replace it with warm or hot water, could potentially save millions of gallons of water across the country every day.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to describe a method of maintaining a constant or variable water temperature in liquid receptacles such as sinks, bathtubs, baby tubs, pet dishes (stop from freezing in the winter) and a wide variety of liquid containers such as cattle and horse water troughs, banquet food warmers (to replace sterno heat source), commercial sinks and portable liquid containers

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Although the use of imbedded heating devices is well known, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,266 issued to Noland et al. on Aug. 9, 1983 which describes a heated livestock watering assembly attached to a source of heated water which is replenished as the water in the assembly is reduced. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,448 issued to Rogers et al. on Apr. 21, 1987 which describes a spa shell circulating heated water from a heat chamber to the seat of said spa shell. U.S. Pat. No. 4,521,929 issued to Keefer on Jan. 11, 1985 describes a heated water bed containing a heated water chamber and finally U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,973 issued to Dodge on Jul. 2, 1996 describes a portable sink for outdoor use containing a pocket for insertion of a heat source. None of the above described patents concern themselves with the necessity of water conservation and it is not until recently that the need for water conservation has become of national concern. Therefore the method of achieving this need is described in this invention.

A kitchen sink being only one example of the application of this invention, wherein one would presumably start with warm to hot water. After putting several plates, glasses, silverware and bowls in the water, the temperature of the water begins to drop dramatically causing grease and other deposits on the dishes to become hard and less likely to become completely clean. If one lets the dishes soak to make them easier to clean, the water becomes cold and is usually replaced with hot water to continue to wash dishes. The present invention describes a method for maintaining water temperature, thereby preventing the grease from solidifying and allowing more dishes to be cleaned properly without draining the water and wasting 2½ to 5 gallons of water each time a sink is drained and replaced with warmer water.

A heating element can be attached to the underside of a sink either during manufacture or as a modification in the field and will provide enough radiant heat to maintain a consistent and useful water temperature. The heating elements can be attached to stainless steel sinks either by spot welding or appropriate adhesive, a standard bolt pattern can be utilized in the sink production to make universal heating elements easy to attach to any sink. Universal elements can vary in size according to the size of the sink.

Such heating elements simply consist of a power source, and may have adjustable temperature setting, on-off switch and a reflective heat shield for protection of exposed elements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a method of heating liquids contained in a liquid receptacle wherein a heating element is used that has an alternative power source such as battery, solar or common house power. The heating element can vary in size and shape to accommodate the liquid holding receptacle or sink. There are many types of heating elements available for such an application. These elements can have heat adjustments for slight variations in water temperature.

Depending on the type of element used in the application, installation can be easily accomplished. Appropriate glue or epoxy already used in the art can be used to attach the element to the liquid receptacle. The heating element can also be tack glued onto said liquid receptacle. A protective heat shield can be attached in the same way. Power is supplied by any number of appropriate power sources depending on whether the liquid receptacle is stationary or portable.

While there are many possible applications of this invention, one objective is to prevent dish water in a sink from becoming cold and therefore insufficient for washing dishes completely and properly. When the dish water becomes cold it is usually drained and replaced with hot water, wasting approximately 2½ to 5 gallons of water each time.

If the water was to remain at a constant and effective temperature, one would be able to wash more dishes each time and let hard to clean dishes soak longer without changing the water. The water in the sink would stay warmer longer, while cleaning counter tops, cabinets, and the oven, therefore saving thousands of gallons of water per a year per household.

There is also the consideration of safety in such applications as the water in a baby bath where the water temperature would not exceed a pre-described maximum nor would it drop below a pre-described minimum.

For example: if 1 million people across the country were able to finish their dishes or housework, bathing, etc, without changing the water or adding more hot water the country would be able to save 2½ to 5 million gallons of water a day. Because this is a small number, this invention would have a dramatic impact on the water supplies across the country and even the world which in turn would be a positive effect on the environment, economy, and any species that requires water for its existence.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a bottom view of a typical sink.

FIG. 2 depicts a typical control panel.

FIG. 3 shows the logic circuitry contained within the control panel of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to an embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. A heated sink assembly (5) comprised of sink sides (10), sink drain (20) and sink bottom (30) wherein said sink bottom (30) contains a heat element indent (40). A heat element (80) is located within the said heat element indent (40).

Also located on sink bottom (30) is a temperature sensor (50). Said temperature sensor (50) being part of a control panel (100) to control the temperature of the water in the sink assembly (5). The heating element (80) can be supplied by several manufacturers in this field.

The control panel (100) of FIG. 2 comprises an on/off switch (125), a temperature control (130), a heat timer (180) and a relay reset (150). The logical function of these controls is shown in FIG. 3 and described as follows: The heating elements (80) as shown in FIG. 1 require a heating element power source (170) which is controlled and turned on and off by a heating element on/off (160) device which is in turn controlled by the said heat timer (180). The heat timer (180) is a user accessible control and can be adjusted anywhere from zero time to a maximum such as two hours (but not limited to such). However, no heating or control can take place until the user turns the system on with the on/off switch (125). This on/off switch (125) allows power to be supplied to enable the rest of the logic system to function. The logic circuit power source (120) can be a stand-alone source or the power can be generated from the heating element power source (170). Once the on/off switch (125) is turned on, the temperature control (130) becomes active and the temperature programmed in by the user is set as a limit. The temperature sensor (50) then monitors the actual temperature of a the liquid in the liquid receptacle and feeds this information back to the temperature control (130). Should the system fail to properly control the set temperature, an over temperature relay (140) will shut the system down via the on/off switch (125) and energize an over-temperature warning (110). The system can then only be restarted by depressing the relay reset (150) which resets the over-temperature relay (140) as well as the over-temperature warning (110) and allows the system to be restarted with the on/off switch (125).

It will be obvious to anyone skilled in the art that the above described logic is only a simple example of the controls which might be used in such an application and that this example is only one possible application of this logic which is applicable to any number of liquid receptacles as described in the “field of the invention”. For example, a warning light might also be employed to indicate an over-temperature condition as well as a separate power source for the reset button function. There are many obvious additions which can be made to this disclosure including the use of such a device in a portable application and for use as an after-market modification to existing liquid receptacles. Therefore it is not intended that the control mechanism and application be limited thereby, but that modifications thereof are intended to be included as falling within the broad spirit and scope of the foregoing disclosure, the following claims and the appended drawings. 

1. A method of manufacturing liquid receptacles with heating elements for controlling liquid temperatures within said liquid receptacles comprising the steps of: a. imbedding a heating element in a shell of said liquid receptacle,; b. mounting a control panel in a conveniently accessible location; c. connecting an electrical logic circuit to said control panel, d. attaching an appropriate power supply to said heating element; e. attaching an appropriate power source to said power supply and. f. attaching an appropriate power source to said electrical logic circuit.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said control panel comprises the steps of: a. mounting an on/off switch on said control panel; b. mounting a temperature control on said control panel; c. mounting a heat timer on said control panel and d. mounting a reset switch on said control panel.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said control panel further comprises the steps of: a. programming of an electrical logic circuit comprising the steps of:
 1. initializing the electrical logic circuit with a system on/off switch
 2. supplying a heating element with a heating element power source,
 3. controlling said heating element power source with a heating element on/off device,
 4. controlling said heating element on/off device by a heat timer,
 5. adjusting said heat timer to a user selected time,
 6. setting a temperature control to a user selected temperature,
 7. monitoring the selected temperature by use of an appropriate temperature sensor,
 8. feeding back information from said temperature sensor to said temperature control,
 10. energizing an over-temperature relay should said temperature sensor become activated,
 11. energizing an over-temperature warning should said temperature sensor become activated,
 12. turning off said heating element via said heating element on/off device with signal from said over-temperature relay and
 13. turning off the on/off switch with a signal from said over-temperature relay, b. re-initializing said electrical logic circuit after programmed shut-down comprising the further steps of;
 1. re-setting said over-temperature relay and said over-temperature warning by depressing said relay reset and,
 2. re-applying the logic circuit power source by re-setting said on/off switch via the re-setting of said over-temperature relay
 4. A method of modifying liquid receptacles with heating elements for controlling liquid temperatures within said liquid receptacles comprising the steps of: a. applying a heating element to one or multiple surfaces of said heating receptacle, b. mounting a control panel in a conveniently accessible location; c. connecting an electrical logic circuit to said control panel, d. attaching an appropriate power supply to said heating element; e. attaching an appropriate power source to said power supply and f. attaching an appropriate power source to said electrical logic circuit.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein said control panel comprises the steps of: a. mounting an on/off switch on said control panel; b. mounting a temperature control on said control panel; c. mounting a heat timer on said control panel and d. mounting a reset switch on said control panel.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein said control panel further comprises the steps of: a. programming of an electrical logic circuit comprising the steps of:
 1. initializing the electrical logic circuit with a system on/off switch
 2. supplying a heating element with a heating element power source,
 3. controlling said heating element power source with a heating element on/off device,
 4. controlling said heating element on/off device by a heat timer,
 5. adjusting said heat timer to a user selected time,
 6. setting a temperature control to a user selected temperature,
 7. monitoring the selected temperature by use of an appropriate temperature sensor,
 8. feeding back information from said temperature sensor to said temperature control,
 10. energizing an over-temperature relay should said temperature sensor become activated,
 11. energizing an over-temperature warning should said temperature sensor become activated,
 12. turning off said heating element via said heating element on/off device with signal from said over-temperature relay and
 13. turning off the on/off switch with a signal from said over-temperature relay, b. re-initializing said electrical logic circuit after programmed shut-down comprising the further steps of;
 1. re-setting said over-temperature relay and said over-temperature warning by depressing said relay reset and,
 2. re-applying the logic circuit power source by re-setting said on/off switch via the re-setting of said over-temperature relay 